A variety of devices and methods for containing oil or other material floating on a body of water are known. For example, when an oil spill does occur, it is usually desirable to limit the size of the oil spill, i.e., to confine the spill to a particular area. It is also desirable to contain the floating material (i.e., the oil spill) as quickly as possible, to minimize damage to the environment.
Once contained, the floating material is cleaned up. For example, in the case of an oil spill, the oil is removed from the water surface for further processing, as is well known in the art.
Relatively bulky booms are often used to contain oil spills, to the extent possible. However, because such booms are relatively thick, they are usually deployed from relatively large reels or rolls. Accordingly, deploying a significant length of a boom may require an expensive and specialized vessel, with a relatively large and specially-trained crew. In summary, given their large size and complexity, using booms to contain an oil spill is relatively expensive, and deployment may take a relatively long time.
On occasion, a prior art boom may be taken out of contact with the surface of the water due to relatively high waves, and oil may escape underneath or above the boom in these circumstances. This occurs because the booms are thick, and somewhat inflexible. Furthermore, the booms become discolored from the oil, making the booms difficult to see from the water or the air. Deploying a second ring of booms around a first ring of booms overcomes the problem of identifying the booms since the second ring is not blackened by the oil. Deploying an outer ring of booms often is not feasible, however, because of the relatively high costs associated with this.
An alternative approach, using “relatively thin flexible sheets of oleophilic, hydrophobic substrates” is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,451,325 (Herkenberg). The methods of deployment of the flexible substrates disclosed in Herkenberg, however, are limited. For example, Herkenberg discloses protecting a beachfront area by unrolling the flexible substrates from “positioned roll dispensers” appropriately located on land (col. 7, lines 66-68). Herkenberg also indicates that the flexible substrate may be deployed via rolls located in “a small boat or rubber raft” (col. 8, lines 3-7).
The known methods for deployment of the Herkenberg material have a number of disadvantages. For instance, the length of flexible substrate which can be provided is limited to the length of the material on a single roll. Herkenberg does not address how the flexible substrate may be deployed if, for example, a relatively large oil spill is required to be contained. It appears that a relatively large oil spill would require a large reel of the flexible substrate, which would be difficult to handle, and would require time to prepare and deploy. Among other things, a large reel would require a large vessel for deployment therefrom, resulting in significant costs.